May not mean much to foreign viewers, but it appears the end for those of us have loved American F1 broadcasters David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Will Buxton, (and for many the loss of Bob Varsha 5 years ago, when NBCSN took over the F1 reins here in the US).

Since 1993 I have loved the coverage by Bob and David and when Steve joined the team it just got better and although things changed again when NBCSN took over, Will was a welcomed addition (never been a Diffey fan, but an easy price to pay to see the other 3). I for one will miss them, Hobbo especially for he has been on TV in the US covering races for 40 years or more and I have been a fan of both his racing insight and his humor.

I'm guessing we will all be treated to same F1 coverage next year and I for one hope it ain't those nit-wit screamers from F2 coverage.

ESPN should rethink their decisions IMHO and all of us in the US should voice our opinions on their plans for the F1 2018 season with no pre or post race shows which I'm afraid will kill all the gains F1 in America has made in the past 5 years - as well as dropping guys that made F1 a real joy for this viewer for decades.

It really is a shame how they are just being outted like that. Always enjoyed there work and looked forward to hearing what they had to say during a race. Some of the best sports commentators around and they will be missed by those of us whom tuned in every race wkd.

liberty media has stuck it to the fans here in the states. seriously liberty, you give f1 to your buds at espn2 and nobody can pony up a few bucks for a pre and post race show, along with our own broadcasters ?

espn2 doesn't care one single bit about the fans, they get to show a feed and sell commercials. liberty isn't going to grow fans in the usa when fans can't even watch the race.

I'll miss them. I've watched Sky F1 a few times when I can't watch our domestic broadcast for whatever reason, and I'm already wincing in anticipation of having to suffer through Crofty next year: I know some people don't like Diffey, but in my view Crofty is far worse.

I think Sky has a more polished package, and they win in terms of experts to draw on and production values, but as far as the actual race commentary goes - not a fan. If they sack Croft and give his job to literally any of the others, they'd get a big step closer to winning me over.

I'll miss them. I've watched Sky F1 a few times when I can't watch our domestic broadcast for whatever reason, and I'm already wincing in anticipation of having to suffer through Crofty next year: I know some people don't like Diffey, but in my view Crofty is far worse.

I think Sky has a more polished package, and they win in terms of experts to draw on and production values, but as far as the actual race commentary goes - not a fan. If they sack Croft and give his job to literally any of the others, they'd get a big step closer to winning me over.

Quote:

Based on the information shared by ESPN, U.S. F1 fans will lose the studio experience altogether as a new U.K.-based broadcast team is assembled--one that's unaffiliated with the beloved British Sky Sports F1 group[...]

_________________

AlienTurnedHuman wrote:

Eurytus probably thought he was God. At least until he was banned. Which means if he was God, it makes me very scared of PF1-Mod.

Don't forget the games you're competing in. Someone has to get one over on us!

Based on the information shared by ESPN, U.S. F1 fans will lose the studio experience altogether as a new U.K.-based broadcast team is assembled--one that's unaffiliated with the beloved British Sky Sports F1 group[...]

...

That's even crappier than I expected. Wow. I suddenly understand why Hobbs was so irate about the whole deal!

“It’s a bit galling that my last show is not me retiring, but me being retired,” Hobbs said. “If ESPN or anybody had come along and outbid NBC in a rights war, and we were pushed out by a clearly superior team and deal, that would be one thing. You could say, ‘OK, I guess the best guy’s won.’ But the deal they’ve got is horrible.”

While I do regret the loss of Hobbs and Matchett, I will wait to see what the new international broadcast team look like and how they come across before I seriously start throwing stones. The old team were, on the whole very good but not perfect by any means. Hobbs, Matchett, Diffey, & Buxton all had things that could be improved but it is hard to think of American broadcasters who could best this group, with the exception that Varsha was always better than Diffey.

I will be sitting at the computer to watch the 2018 race in Melbourne at the end of March and be ready to fire off an aggrieved letter if the new group does not measure up.

The danger I do perceive is that we end up with a set of talking heads hand picked by the sanctioning body like Nascar puts out. The natterings of Darrel Waltrip and Chris Matthews are always uncritical praise of how the France family does things. We don't need that in Formula One.

Based on the information shared by ESPN, U.S. F1 fans will lose the studio experience altogether as a new U.K.-based broadcast team is assembled--one that's unaffiliated with the beloved British Sky Sports F1 group[...]

...

That's even crappier than I expected. Wow. I suddenly understand why Hobbs was so irate about the whole deal!

“It’s a bit galling that my last show is not me retiring, but me being retired,” Hobbs said. “If ESPN or anybody had come along and outbid NBC in a rights war, and we were pushed out by a clearly superior team and deal, that would be one thing. You could say, ‘OK, I guess the best guy’s won.’ But the deal they’ve got is horrible.”

I think this is the first step toward having a generic broadcast feed and offering a much larger online package.

As it stands now you get most of your coverage through the TV and your second screen is just for live timing. I think they're going to go more in the direction of WEC where the TV shows a basic feed with commentary but your second screen can show timing and scoring as well as being able to select onboard shots from certain cars or who knows what else.

If I'm wrong then I will be highly disappointed and they will have made a very bad decision and cost themselves a lot of viewers in a market that they're trying to grow.

The only upside I see is that ESPN might at least actually mention that it exists on Sports Center. They typically only mention fringe sports if they cover them or they are a large enough story like during the Olympiads.

depends on what country you are in. libertyf1 is looking into their own streaming service for races. that is why nbcsn called liberty, then gave the rights to espn2 for free. i'm not sure libertyf1 will have a streaming service up and ready to go, running well in march.

I dont get the fascination with Will Buxton. He's not very interesting at all.

But losing Hobbs & Machett is a profound loss for American F1 fans. It's really incalculable. A horrible, horrible mistake by all involved.

We seldom agree in here, but this time I must. Personally, I can't stand either Buxton (biased bore) nor Diffey (irritating from voice to lack of knowledge). Will miss Hobbs and Matchett.

The idea that we are going to get stuck with a group of foreign broadcasters yet again is quite irritating to me as well. It was bad enough when they replaced Varsha with Diffey... and yes, I did right to the company about it. They "rewarded" me with putting Diffey on some NASCAR & Indy telecasts and Barrett-Jackson auctions as well.

It is not like there aren't any American broadcasters that can't do it... at least one token American, please?

To me, this does not bode well for F1 TV following in this country. I hope I am wrong, but .............

Cord cutting is causing huge changes in media, and this is a big example of it. I'm sure other sports will see similar deals in the future. Centralization of the content makes sense financially, but we as the viewer may be left with what we pay for sadly...

I've been 'treated' to the NBC coverage a few times this year, the most recent being Mexico (and that's the one that's fresh in the memory) and I really don't see the massive loss here. The commentary was all over the place, from talking about scenarios that were not playing out in front of us to being outright wrong about permutations for the title, it all seemed a bit phoned in. That said, i've arrived late to this particular party and maybe the writing was on the wall already.

@Blake, interested to know why having foreign broadcasters is such a downer? Surely if the content is good, it doesn't matter who is reeling it off? I'd trade Eddie Jordan for Lauda in a heartbeat, Webber has been pretty good on C4 and Nico Rosberg put in a decent stint on Sky, looking forward to Massa getting a go next year.

_________________http://tsatr.mooo.comThe Sun and The Rain - The reluctant runner.

I've been 'treated' to the NBC coverage a few times this year, the most recent being Mexico (and that's the one that's fresh in the memory) and I really don't see the massive loss here. The commentary was all over the place, from talking about scenarios that were not playing out in front of us to being outright wrong about permutations for the title, it all seemed a bit phoned in. That said, i've arrived late to this particular party and maybe the writing was on the wall already.

@Blake, interested to know why having foreign broadcasters is such a downer? Surely if the content is good, it doesn't matter who is reeling it off? I'd trade Eddie Jordan for Lauda in a heartbeat, Webber has been pretty good on C4 and Nico Rosberg put in a decent stint on Sky, looking forward to Massa getting a go next year.

flash, Valid question. Personally, I find it a bit insulting, as though the US is incapable of producing a capable broadcaster. To put it differently, if your entire broadcast team for many years were Americans and the new team were to be more Americans, would you be thrilled with it?

To be fair, however, I believe Hobbs is now an American citizen owning businesses in the Miwaukee area.

Cord cutting is causing huge changes in media, and this is a big example of it. I'm sure other sports will see similar deals in the future. Centralization of the content makes sense financially, but we as the viewer may be left with what we pay for sadly...

You don't have to, no one is holding a gun to your head.

If Formula One restructured it's feed so everyone had to pay, I personally would tell them to shove it. And I am very sure that they would lose over half their customers in the USA, and any hopes of actually growing the sport there would vaporize.

I have so much racing in my life that Formula One is just a small footnote, something to DVR and watch when there's nothing interesting going on.

I think this is the first step toward having a generic broadcast feed and offering a much larger online package.

As it stands now you get most of your coverage through the TV and your second screen is just for live timing. I think they're going to go more in the direction of WEC where the TV shows a basic feed with commentary but your second screen can show timing and scoring as well as being able to select onboard shots from certain cars or who knows what else.

If I'm wrong then I will be highly disappointed and they will have made a very bad decision and cost themselves a lot of viewers in a market that they're trying to grow.

The only upside I see is that ESPN might at least actually mention that it exists on Sports Center. They typically only mention fringe sports if they cover them or they are a large enough story like during the Olympiads.

I'd be quite happy with a generic broadcast feed and an online offering.

I used to live in the UK and travel a lot for work. I paid for SKY in the UK and it was intensely irritating that whenever I went away on business I couldn't access the online feed I'd already paid for because of territorial rights, like I was going to pay for a subscription in every country I just happened to visit for a few days! The current broadcasting legislation just hasn't kept up with the realities of today's life.

So if there was an affordable feed I could access wherever I happened to be, I'd be all over it like a rash

I've been 'treated' to the NBC coverage a few times this year, the most recent being Mexico (and that's the one that's fresh in the memory) and I really don't see the massive loss here. The commentary was all over the place, from talking about scenarios that were not playing out in front of us to being outright wrong about permutations for the title, it all seemed a bit phoned in. That said, i've arrived late to this particular party and maybe the writing was on the wall already.

You can't connect to a broadcasting team with just a few visits. Please remember, those who are lamenting this loss have watched Hobbs & Machett for the better part of a decade if not longer.

Also remember, this broadcasting team presided over a 100% increase in Formula One viewership in the USA. I'd bet any money that this viewership does not increase under ESPN.

I've been 'treated' to the NBC coverage a few times this year, the most recent being Mexico (and that's the one that's fresh in the memory) and I really don't see the massive loss here. The commentary was all over the place, from talking about scenarios that were not playing out in front of us to being outright wrong about permutations for the title, it all seemed a bit phoned in. That said, i've arrived late to this particular party and maybe the writing was on the wall already.

@Blake, interested to know why having foreign broadcasters is such a downer? Surely if the content is good, it doesn't matter who is reeling it off? I'd trade Eddie Jordan for Lauda in a heartbeat, Webber has been pretty good on C4 and Nico Rosberg put in a decent stint on Sky, looking forward to Massa getting a go next year.

flash, Valid question. Personally, I find it a bit insulting, as though the US is incapable of producing a capable broadcaster. To put it differently, if your entire broadcast team for many years were Americans and the new team were to be more Americans, would you be thrilled with it?

To be fair, however, I believe Hobbs is now an American citizen owning businesses in the Miwaukee area.

Hobbs owns a Honda dealership in Milwaukee. I wonder how he feels about that now that Honda has produced the worst Formula One engine in recent history.He must have held his tongue on many occasions.

I've been 'treated' to the NBC coverage a few times this year, the most recent being Mexico (and that's the one that's fresh in the memory) and I really don't see the massive loss here. The commentary was all over the place, from talking about scenarios that were not playing out in front of us to being outright wrong about permutations for the title, it all seemed a bit phoned in. That said, i've arrived late to this particular party and maybe the writing was on the wall already.

You can't connect to a broadcasting team with just a few visits. Please remember, those who are lamenting this loss have watched Hobbs & Machett for the better part of a decade if not longer.

Also remember, this broadcasting team presided over a 100% increase in Formula One viewership in the USA. I'd bet any money that this viewership does not increase under ESPN.

Fair enough, and I alluded to that point by saying that I was late to the party. It wasn't unwatchable by any means, and the ESPN deal smacks to high heaven of a filler deal until Liberty get some sort of streaming service underway. The Netflix rumours wont go away, and to be honest, if the coverage and program is good, i'd be all over a Netflix stream.

_________________http://tsatr.mooo.comThe Sun and The Rain - The reluctant runner.

I've been 'treated' to the NBC coverage a few times this year, the most recent being Mexico (and that's the one that's fresh in the memory) and I really don't see the massive loss here. The commentary was all over the place, from talking about scenarios that were not playing out in front of us to being outright wrong about permutations for the title, it all seemed a bit phoned in. That said, i've arrived late to this particular party and maybe the writing was on the wall already.

You can't connect to a broadcasting team with just a few visits. Please remember, those who are lamenting this loss have watched Hobbs & Machett for the better part of a decade if not longer.

Also remember, this broadcasting team presided over a 100% increase in Formula One viewership in the USA. I'd bet any money that this viewership does not increase under ESPN.

Fair enough, and I alluded to that point by saying that I was late to the party. It wasn't unwatchable by any means, and the ESPN deal smacks to high heaven of a filler deal until Liberty get some sort of streaming service underway. The Netflix rumours wont go away, and to be honest, if the coverage and program is good, i'd be all over a Netflix stream.

I am MORE than a cord cutter, I simply do not watch TV, at all, EXCEPT for Formula One. So if I can buy a stream to JUST F1, that would be great for me.

That said, the halo era is so depressing to me that I am going to see how it goes skipping the first few races of next year. Maybe it will stick and I can save even a bit more money.

I've been 'treated' to the NBC coverage a few times this year, the most recent being Mexico (and that's the one that's fresh in the memory) and I really don't see the massive loss here. The commentary was all over the place, from talking about scenarios that were not playing out in front of us to being outright wrong about permutations for the title, it all seemed a bit phoned in. That said, i've arrived late to this particular party and maybe the writing was on the wall already.

You can't connect to a broadcasting team with just a few visits. Please remember, those who are lamenting this loss have watched Hobbs & Machett for the better part of a decade if not longer.

Also remember, this broadcasting team presided over a 100% increase in Formula One viewership in the USA. I'd bet any money that this viewership does not increase under ESPN.

Fair enough, and I alluded to that point by saying that I was late to the party. It wasn't unwatchable by any means, and the ESPN deal smacks to high heaven of a filler deal until Liberty get some sort of streaming service underway. The Netflix rumours wont go away, and to be honest, if the coverage and program is good, i'd be all over a Netflix stream.

I am MORE than a cord cutter, I simply do not watch TV, at all, EXCEPT for Formula One. So if I can buy a stream to JUST F1, that would be great for me.

That said, the halo era is so depressing to me that I am going to see how it goes skipping the first few races of next year. Maybe it will stick and I can save even a bit more money.

The Internet is your friend. I watch every NASCAR race live and I'm in Ireland

NBCSN *doubled* the viewership of F1 during their time as the broadcasting network. ESPN is going to flush all that down the drain. I'm not paying for their substandard nonsense.

This is truly horrible for F1 fans in the US.

It's not true that F1 viewership in the states doubled since NBC took over. It's just NBC putting a clever spin on the reality of the situation. They are deceptively manipulating things in order to be able to make such a boast but the reality is that WHEN NBC took over F1, ratings dropped dramatically from what they were on Speed the year before and it took 5 years to regrow the F1 audience here to the point it doubled from their initial numbers in their first season.

If you're a hardcore fan of F1 in the US you'd be keen on how many people were extremely disappointed in the loss of Bob Varsha and the sting felt when they appointed Diffey in his place to anchor the US Broadcast Team, to the point a great number of fans simply stopped watching the NBC telecast and instead watch via internet streams. Now that streams are increasingly more difficult to find/watch many of those fans decided to suck it up and deal with a broadcast they aren't fond of and many even mute it and listen to a different broadcast team for commentary.

As for those saying Will Buxton isn't very good, I don't see how he isn't and furthermore, while I realize there are drivers he likes more than others, I've found him to be fair and just in his assessment of every single driver in the sport and provides greater insight into many situations the guys in the booth here could never be aware of simply because they sit in a studio tens of thousands of miles away from the races and have zero contact with anyone at the races the way Will does week in and week out. And this is coming from someone who was not happy when they appointed him the new trackside reporter on Speed. It took a bit to get over it and look past his bouncing shoulders as he speaks, but if you really listen to what the man says, he offers a great deal of information about the sport from every aspect. He was also superb calling the GP2 races several years ago and I think he'd be great for calling races for the American market.

Buxton also had a really good show called Off the Grid and it shows Buxton has range unlike most personalities associated with sport.

Diffey is just not the right fit for 4-wheel competition in any capacity and his lack of knowledge is almost as annoying as his shouting for no damn reason! he is a really good fit for motorcycle racing where the action is more intense and elbow to elbow combative, but the guy simply cannot take criticism of any kind. All you have to do is hint he tone down the shouting a smidgen on any of his social media accounts and and he will block/ban you without entertaining the idea that perhaps such suggestions are constructive and might help him be a better commentator.

Matchett, although quite sharp and knowledgeable, played an increasingly diminishing role at NBC as the each season passed. RPM disappeared once the broadcast moved to NBC and that was an excellent bit of F1 TV that further helped promote the sport well.

Hobbo, who is going to take those sarcastically hilarious jabs and famous one liners like "Cheap Suit"? Perhaps he was a bit past his expiration date in some facets but the ole chap is quick as a whip and quite knowledgeable in more racing disciplines than most broadcasters. I think my favorite aspect of his commentary prowess is his knowledge of tracks and how they used to be and how they evolved over time to become the circuits drivers contend on today. And Hobbo and Matchett compliment one another really well which adds to their value.

The one point where I disagree with Hobbo is in that he says the world feed is lesser than the NBC broadcast because NBC's coverage is lacking. Only Practice 2 is broadcast and Pre & Post race coverage is nowhere near as thorough as the one across the pond. I think that's going to be the best upgrade for us states side and is what I am looking forward to most.

If you're a hardcore fan of F1 in the US you'd be keen on how many people were extremely disappointed in the loss of Bob Varsha and the sting felt when they appointed Diffey in his place to anchor the US Broadcast Team, to the point a great number of fans simply stopped watching the NBC telecast and instead watch via internet streams.

Yep, that was immense loss for US F1 fans. Bob Varsha was THE man for Formula One broadcasting. How he lost his job is inexplicable.

I dont like Will Buxton as I find him rather boring. But he's not obnoxious as Diffy is so I can just tune him out when his turn to talk comes along. I much preferred Peter Winsor or John Bisangano from way back in the day.

I've been 'treated' to the NBC coverage a few times this year, the most recent being Mexico (and that's the one that's fresh in the memory) and I really don't see the massive loss here. The commentary was all over the place, from talking about scenarios that were not playing out in front of us to being outright wrong about permutations for the title, it all seemed a bit phoned in. That said, i've arrived late to this particular party and maybe the writing was on the wall already.

You can't connect to a broadcasting team with just a few visits. Please remember, those who are lamenting this loss have watched Hobbs & Machett for the better part of a decade if not longer.

Also remember, this broadcasting team presided over a 100% increase in Formula One viewership in the USA. I'd bet any money that this viewership does not increase under ESPN.

Fair enough, and I alluded to that point by saying that I was late to the party. It wasn't unwatchable by any means, and the ESPN deal smacks to high heaven of a filler deal until Liberty get some sort of streaming service underway. The Netflix rumours wont go away, and to be honest, if the coverage and program is good, i'd be all over a Netflix stream.

I am MORE than a cord cutter, I simply do not watch TV, at all, EXCEPT for Formula One. So if I can buy a stream to JUST F1, that would be great for me.

That said, the halo era is so depressing to me that I am going to see how it goes skipping the first few races of next year. Maybe it will stick and I can save even a bit more money.

The Internet is your friend. I watch every NASCAR race live and I'm in Ireland

If you're a hardcore fan of F1 in the US you'd be keen on how many people were extremely disappointed in the loss of Bob Varsha and the sting felt when they appointed Diffey in his place to anchor the US Broadcast Team, to the point a great number of fans simply stopped watching the NBC telecast and instead watch via internet streams.

Yep, that was immense loss for US F1 fans. Bob Varsha was THE man for Formula One broadcasting. How he lost his job is inexplicable.

I dont like Will Buxton as I find him rather boring. But he's not obnoxious as Diffy is so I can just tune him out when his turn to talk comes along. I much preferred Peter Winsor or John Bisangano from way back in the day.

Bob didn't lose his job. The reason he didn't go over to NBC is that Fox refused to let HIM go because they realized what a commodity he is here. And that was info given to me by the man himself so no he said she said or rumor about it, and in that regard I was happier for him than I was saddened to not have him on the F1 broadcasts. BUT, Diffey's shouting ALWAYS made my cringe and immediately think why the hell can't we have Bob back??!?!? LOL

I felt about Buxton as you do but I think if you REALLY give him a chance and listen, most of what he says is spot on and extremely insightful, even more so than Peter was and I happen to be a HUGE fan of Peter's so I totally know how you feel.

I WAS a huge fan of Nascar, but that was before it turned into the over commercialized joke that it has grown to be. When the cars still resembled and had some semblance to the production models and the drivers were good ole boys who fought through the ranks of all sorts of disciplines, most of which were dirt, and they had the skill to duke it out cleanly instead of the modern day idiocy that ensued when they took Days of Thunder literally when Robert Duvall tells Tom Cruise "Son, Rubbin' is Racin'". From that moment on Nascar began a transformation that would see it become a spec series where the cars are literally identical and only decals are indicative of the supposed "brand" the cars are and the engines are so similar they might as well be of a single make and the majority of drivers have all mastered the tactic of "if I can't pass you, I'm gonna bump you out of my way" and to me that's indicative of utter suckage and playing dirty and the culture in Nascar is so out of hand that even drivers in front resort to similar tactics.

You can't connect to a broadcasting team with just a few visits. Please remember, those who are lamenting this loss have watched Hobbs & Machett for the better part of a decade if not longer.

Also remember, this broadcasting team presided over a 100% increase in Formula One viewership in the USA. I'd bet any money that this viewership does not increase under ESPN.

Fair enough, and I alluded to that point by saying that I was late to the party. It wasn't unwatchable by any means, and the ESPN deal smacks to high heaven of a filler deal until Liberty get some sort of streaming service underway. The Netflix rumours wont go away, and to be honest, if the coverage and program is good, i'd be all over a Netflix stream.

I am MORE than a cord cutter, I simply do not watch TV, at all, EXCEPT for Formula One. So if I can buy a stream to JUST F1, that would be great for me.

That said, the halo era is so depressing to me that I am going to see how it goes skipping the first few races of next year. Maybe it will stick and I can save even a bit more money.

The Internet is your friend. I watch every NASCAR race live and I'm in Ireland

I started watching Formula 1 with interest and regularity midway through the 2002 season. So I watched the Varsha, Matchett, Hobbs combo who I believe came together permanently in 2004. Varsha's loss was painful. Hobbs and Matchett going stings worse, because Hobbs made me chuckle and I loved listening to Matchett, who still can explain the cars and mechanic's side in everyman's english. He has probably forgotten more about the technical side than most of us will ever know. Repetitive, sure, but then again what isn't about watching anything repetitively?

I really don't know what to think next year. It's depressing to envision.

Hopefully we'll still get to enjoy Hobbs & probably Varsha for the 24 hours of Daytona, 12 hours of Sebring, 24 hours of Le Mans & The 12 hours of Atlanta. Any sport I have ever watched, the top three announcers were Varsha, Hobbs & Mike Emrick (hockey). Hard to concieve how this deal ever sounded good to someone.

Hopefully we'll still get to enjoy Hobbs & probably Varsha for the 24 hours of Daytona, 12 hours of Sebring, 24 hours of Le Mans & The 12 hours of Atlanta. Any sport I have ever watched, the top three announcers were Varsha, Hobbs & Mike Emrick (hockey). Hard to concieve how this deal ever sounded good to someone.

Hooking your star to ESPN and Disney/ABC while they have declining viewership and revenues and ESPN especially throughout the past year or more has been reducing workforce (in front and behind the cameras) and payroll. Not good to sign up with a shrinking organization.